Championship Caliber...

by FeelTheLove on Apr 30, 2008 11:32 AM PDT

I came across this one long article about what it takes to build a championship team in the NBA . This should be required reading for anyone who wants to know why some teams win NBA titles and why most teams don't and usually never will. There are four separate links but they should be read top to bottom as one article.

Gold Medal Superstar

Gold Medal Superstar 2

The Art of Building A Champion

The Art of Building A Champion 2

Very interesting stuff. Greg Oden is our potential Gold Medal Superstar. If he is as advertised the championship window is open. This might seem obvious to a lot of people but I have never seen it laid out so clearly and convincingly as to why that is the case.

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Dave kinda broke it down like that

A couple days ago.

Obama, Outlaw '08

by Sabonis4Ever on Apr 30, 2008 1:34 PM PDT reply actions

I think this just astrology

Sorry but the 2 criteria this dude used was MVP voting (are you kidding me???) and The All-NBA-Team (are you kidding me? Part 2). Popularity contests. There are no objectivity. Player Value (and popularity) is based on winning titles and then it is stated that to win a title you need a “Valuable Player’. That is a completely circular arguement. The bottom line is that if you have 2 equally great players and 1 has a title and one doesn’t …we always say the with the ring is the great one and the one without is merely very good (Is Marino better than Manning? Manning will be declared the better player because of that SuperBowl just watch ).

"Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors... and miss" Robert A. Heinlein

by 92wastheyear on Apr 30, 2008 1:59 PM PDT reply actions

Yeah

but Manning IS better than Marino.

Witty Unpredictable Talent and Natural Game

by iDea on May 1, 2008 11:02 AM PDT up reply actions

How to win

The idea is that you simply can’t win a championship without an MVP candidate. There are three ways to get such a player. Draft (Oden, Duncan), fire sale trade (Garnett), or free agency (Shaq to the Lakers).

Teams that don’t have an MVP type player must pursue one of the above strategies or they’re just kidding themselves. Unfortunately, the route to the promised land typically means suffering through severe losing seasons and maintaining a low payroll. The worst strategy toward a championship is to try to build around middle-tier guys. That’ll maybe get you to the playoffs, but not farther. How many capped out also-rans can you name? Most of the league?

Often, championship cores are built around being bad, cheap, and lucky. If you don’t have a top-tier player and you’re not one of those three, don’t hope for a ring. We bash Whitsitt and Patterson, but where would we be without that ineptitude and those two awful years?

by Engineering Problem on Apr 30, 2008 3:21 PM PDT reply actions

Lol, who knew Trader Bob and Steve-O were such mad geniuses?

I thought the articles were highly perceptive. You can’t argue with their conclusion. This is exciting for us Blazer fans, because it looks like our top three guys are going to be Top 84 players, with all three having a shot at being the Gold Medal Superstar-level player that championship teams must have.

My favorite quotes:

“The only Silver Medal Superstar who would certainly be a Gold Medal Superstar had he remained healthy is Bill Walton. Had he continued for another decade as he did in 76-78, at age 24 and 25, he would be in the top ten overall. Maybe top 5. He was that dominant. And God knows what NBA basketball would have been like in the 80s if a healthy Walton had been leading the Blazers out west.

”...and the awesome Blazers reeled with multiple injuries, especially to Walton.”

by MiledAnimal on Apr 30, 2008 3:59 PM PDT up reply actions

Steve was cool

Didn’t he hire KP?
Also he was the GM when we drafted Roy and LMA. KP gets all the credit, but I remember remembering that Steve was still on the job. And he had such pretty hair.

Mahna mahna, (ba dee bedebe), mahna mahna, (ba debe dee), mahna mahna, (ba dee bedebe badebe badebe dee dee de-de de-de-de)

by tominhawaii on Apr 30, 2008 9:23 PM PDT up reply actions

I hate to weigh in again on this but.....

...... This is based on winning awards. It could just as easily be about how many All-Star appearances or 6th man awards. I really think that if you win titles you end up with more awards not the other way around. Sorry

"Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors... and miss" Robert A. Heinlein

by 92wastheyear on Apr 30, 2008 3:43 PM PDT reply actions

I was thinking the same thing.

The author sets up a point system that is weighted towards the argument he is making.

Although I noticed that one of his recommendations for building a championship falls in line with what I’ve been suggesting the Blazers do this season – trade this year’s draft pick for another team’s future first round pick. The common opinion here is we should try to trade up in this year’s draft. I see that as much less likely to be available than trading for a pick at some point in the future. Most GM’s are thinking about how to improve their teams right now. They give considerably less attention to what a pick 3 or 4 years from now might be worth.

It already is looking like we may have our Gold Medal player (Oden), a Silver (possibly Gold) Medal player (Roy) and a Bronze Medal player (Aldridge). Rather than jumping through hoops to try to land that elusive “Championship Caliber” PG so many here drool over, I’d rather see Pritchard looking to the future.

by timg56 on May 1, 2008 7:17 AM PDT up reply actions

I agree (as you know)

One thing I remember about the whole Jordan over Bowie thing is that the pick wasn’t even our pick. The pick that could have been Jordan was traded to us from Indy(2 or 3 years previously). Getting a pick in a future draft sounds way smart to me

"Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors... and miss" Robert A. Heinlein

by 92wastheyear on May 1, 2008 12:01 PM PDT up reply actions

The Coach's Art

by Dr Jack Ramsay should also be required reading, as it not only describes his formula for success but how he apllied it to the 1977 TrailBlazer franchise and won our teams only world title.

If you dont talk to your cats about catnip, who will?

by bow4meow on Apr 30, 2008 6:21 PM PDT reply actions